Anybody who has learned a second language will tell you how important it is to study vocabulary. Being able to recall words is key to getting your point across and to understanding the world around you.
That’s why we offer so many tools for discovering and mastering vocabulary.
Discovering Vocabulary
Whether you want a regimented plan or something more casual, you’ll find plenty of tools to help you discover new words and phrases to learn.
Lesson Vocabulary
The audio and video lessons you find on the platform are not just great ways to encounter new grammar, sentence patterns, and real-life dialogues, but they also introduce the vocabulary that native speakers use in daily life. Every lesson is an opportunity for your vocabulary to grow stronger.
If you’re a Premium subscriber, you’ll have access to the Lesson Vocabulary section, which groups all words introduced in a lesson into one convenient list. Here, you can see the definition and sample sentences, and hear audio by native speakers. Words and phrases you’d like to remember can be quickly added to your Word Bank or Flashcard decks.
How to use: Lesson Vocabulary is a feature for Premium subscribers and up. They can be found on any audio or video lesson. Browse the Lesson Library, follow along with the pathway on your Dashboard, or search for a lesson using Advanced Lesson Search.
Related Article: About Our Lessons
Vocabulary and Phrase Lists
The 100 most common words, parts of the body, phrases for using social media—these are just some of the vocabulary and phrase lists you’ll find in our vocabulary list library. With hundreds of lists grouped by theme, part of speech, frequency, and more, you’ll be sure to find a list that helps you express the things you most want to talk about.
Learners who want to structure their time as efficiently as possible should look for the Core Word Lists. These lists gather together the highest-frequency words in a language—the words you’re sure to use over and over. Start with the top 100 words and then move onto the top 200, 300, all the way until you reach the top 2000 word list. A vocabulary of 2000 words is most of what you need for daily conversation!
Each vocabulary entry comes with the features you’d expect—part of speech, definition, native audio, and sample sentences. And you can use the Vocabulary Slideshow feature to sit back and absorb the entire list in a multimedia experience.
How to use: Open the Vocabulary section on the navigation bar to find Vocabulary Lists. Here, you can also find the Top 100 and Top 2000 word lists. The Top 100 and other Vocabulary Lists are available for free. The Top 200 list and above are for Premium subscribers and above.
Audio Dictionary
For every other word you can think of, there’s the Audio Dictionary. Search in English or your target language with powerful search and filtering options. Get the definition along with native audio and sample sentences.
How to use: Find the search icon in the navigation bar to enter a search term. Click any result to navigate to the Audio Dictionary.
Word of the Day
Sometimes it’s hard to find the time to study a full lesson or list in your busy schedule. For those times, sign up for the Word of the Day email. This email gives you a single word, every day. With native audio and sample sentences, you’ll have everything you need to grow your vocabulary without leaving your email inbox.
How to use: Access Word of the Day from the Vocabulary section on the navigation bar. The Word of the Day is a free feature.
Mastering Vocabulary
Learning new words and phrases is an essential part of mastering a new language, but how do you ensure that the vocabulary you learn sticks? This is where the platform really shines, giving you a wealth of tools to cement vocabulary into your mind.
Review Track
For reviewing the vocabulary introduced in a lesson, there’s nothing better than the Review Track. This all-audio presentation will strengthen your memory by gently quizzing you on the vocabulary in each lesson. For best results, wait a day after listening to a lesson before listening to the Review Track, using the benefits of spaced repetition to strengthen your memory.
How to use: The Review Track is available on nearly all audio lessons for users with a Premium subscription or higher. Click the play button by the Lesson Vocabulary list or find the Review Track in the list of tracks in each lesson.
Assessments
As you study pathways, you’ll encounter many assessments. These are crafted by our language teachers to reinforce what you’ve learned and to help you practice putting the knowledge into action. Through multiple-choice questions, short answer questions, and questions which exercise your speaking and writing ability, you’ll practice real-life language skills, while drilling sentence structures, grammar, and vocabulary.
How to use: Multiple-Choice and Hand-Graded Assessments can both be found in pathways within our Lesson Library. Multiple-Choice Assessments are available to Premium subscribers and above. Hand-Graded Assessments are a Premium PLUS feature.
Related Article: Using Assessments
Voice Recorder
See the microphone icon next to all the words you encounter on the platform? That takes you to the Voice Recorder, a chance to practice your pronunciation and compare it to a native speaker.
Listen to the native speaker as many times as you need and then record your own voice. This gives you an opportunity to easily compare your voice objectively and try to get as close as possible to a native’s pronunciation.
How to use: Click the microphone icon next to vocabulary entries you encounter on the platform.
Word Bank
When you’ve found vocabulary that you’d like to keep track of, what should you do next? Add it to your Word Bank! The Word Bank is your custom list of all the vocabulary you encounter across our platform. Whether you look up a word in the dictionary, hear it in a lesson, or find it in a vocabulary list, you’ll be able to quickly add it to your Word Bank for later review.
Once you’ve collected words you’d like to remember, what can you do with them? With the Word Bank, you can sort the words in any way you’d like, print them off, export them to a spreadsheet or other file format, or send them directly to Flashcards to study.
How to use: Access Word Bank from the Vocabulary section of the navigation bar. Word Bank is available to Premium subscribers and above.
Spaced-Repetition Flashcards
The ultimate way to study vocabulary is our Spaced-Repetition Flashcards. These offer all the benefits of paper flashcards combined with the power of technology and cognitive science to improve your retention.
Create a deck from any Vocabulary List, your Word Bank, or from scratch. Then our system will tell you when to study. Tricky words will be shown to you more often, and easier words will get out of your way. The result is a study experience that keeps your attention on the words you’re just about to forget, improving the length you’ll remember each word.
How to use: Access Flashcards from the Vocabulary section of the navigation bar. Flashcards are available to Premium subscribers and above.
Related Article: Using Flashcards
By using these tools and making vocabulary review a regular part of your language learning routine, you can master new words and phrases and make them a permanent part of your vocabulary.